Category Archives: Glenugie (closed 1983)

For those of you who have diligently read my words before, you’ll know that I’m not a fan of whisky auctions. But, like a mad butterfly to a flame, they have a certain fascinating that draws me back in. With another auction of whisky miniatures looming, I decided I’d have a go at acquiring a few 5cl bottles from closed distilleries. “What better way of keeping the cost down by getting miniatures?” I thought. How about not bidding!

I did all my research on the bottles I wanted, hunting through previous auctions to find out the maximum price I should aim for. The only problem with this approach is there’s no such thing as a ‘maximum’ price in an auction. It’s what two idiots are prepared to battle up to, with the biggest fool being the last one to stop bidding. There’s also a numbers game going on. If there were 3 regular people bidding on previous auctions, my arrival makes 4. The previous winners may have outbid the others but that’s not to say they reached the maximum they were prepared to pay. I would have to beat that to secure the bottles I wanted.

I set my sights on 9 closed distilleries and placed my bids. I needed to win a reasonable number to spread out the astronomical cost of postage. £15 delivery between 9 bottles is £1.67 per bottle, but £5 per bottle if I only win 3. Unfortunately, as the battle neared its close, I was down to 3 bottles, and two of those were from the same distillery. The hammer fell, as did my heart. What possessed me?!

In the end this mini of Glenugie cost me £18 but, taking its share of the postage, commission, etc, it was really £28.57! I was all set to pour my whisky collection down the sink and take up stamp collecting instead when I had a look on ‘Hard To Find Whisky’. They have the exact same 5cl Glenugie for …. wait for it…. £99.95!

From what I’ve discovered about this bottling by Signatory, it’s not one of their best. Malt maniacs give the bigger 70cl version 68/100 (average from 3 votes) but on Whiskybase a single reviewer scores my miniature 80/100. Clearly it’s better to keep as an investment than to drink.